国产视频

180,000 children in Mali face losing their school meals and education

Health and nutrition

Taking away school meals from 180,000 pupils going back to class in Mali, where insecurity has closed schools in the north, may deprive even more children of an education, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said yesterday.

Halting a school meals programme due to a lack of funding听will leave these children, in around 1000 schools across Mali,听without a guaranteed healthy meal each day, the WFP said.

The UN agency said without these meals, many children may听not go to school in the West African country, which faces a听growing threat from Islamist groups in its desert north and has听been rocked by a series of violent raids this year.

国产视频淪chool meals are often the only nutritious meal a child听receives a day, relieving families from further financial stress听and motivating parents to send their children to school,国产视频 Silvia听Caruso, WFP国产视频檚 country director for Mali, said in a statement.听

国产视频淭eachers tell us that if the meals are no longer provided,听there is a significant risk that parents will no longer send听their children to school,国产视频 said Caruso, adding that children听find it tough to walk to or stay in school on an empty stomach.

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A Malian girl in a classroom at Thionville Chateau school in Gao

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Violence in northern Mali, which has forced teachers to flee听and schools to remain closed, left nearly 400,000 children out听of education months into the academic year in 2015, according to听the UN children国产视频檚 agency UNICEF.

More than a third of primary school-aged children in Mali听are missing out on an education, more than four years after听conflict involving rival armed groups and Islamist militants听erupted, UNICEF said earlier this month.

Armed groups have proliferated since Islamist groups took听advantage of an ethnic Tuareg uprising in 2012 to seize the听north of the country. A French-led intervention drove them back听in 2013 but instability has continued and undermines a fragile听UN-backed peace process.

Despite the insecurity and challenges of being able to reach听people in need, the WFP said it had managed to provide school听meals to an average of 170,000 children a year since 2012.

国产视频淕oing to school helps (the children of Mali) regain their听childhood, and school meals play an important role in keeping听them in school,国产视频 Caruso said, adding that the WFP urgently听needed $3 million to resume its school meals programme in Mali.

Dwindling funds and shifting donor priorities mean that more听than 1.3 million children across West and Central Africa risk听missing out on school meals from the WFP by the end of 2016, the听UN agency said last month.

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